British Internet bank Egg said today customers continued to flock to its main credit card business and that it was well placed for further growth in 2003.
Shares in Egg, which is 79 per cent-owned by insurer Prudential, rose 5.7 per cent to 142 pence sterling in morning trade, with brokers at Merrill Lynch and Teather & Greenwood keeping "buy" recommendations on the stock.
Egg shares have outperformed the FTSE banking sector by about 9 per cent since the start of 2002.
Egg's main credit card business has benefited from low interest rates and low unemployment in Britain, which have encouraged consumer spending.
The bank has more than two million customers, who tend to be attracted by bargain offers on Egg's credit card.
Some analysts have raised concerns that banks face major risks from rising bad loans in the face of a global economic slowdown, but Egg said its credit quality remained strong.
Egg began a Visa credit card in France last month, and the company said the product - dubbed "La Carte Egg" - had attracted 28,000 customers.
The trading statement was issued ahead of annual results for the year ending December 2002, which will be published in February.